A Chance for Love
by Kraele and Bremon
Summary: After saving Tori from the Turks, Yazoo has become a little uncertain as to where his loyalties lie. I wonder how long that will that last? Set around Advent Children. Contains spoilers now.
1. Rebuilding their Lives

A/N: Okay, this is more like an introductory chapter to the story, just to get all you readers acquainted with a couple of the main characters. Sorry if it seems a bit slow. The rest of the story will get more interesting, really. Just have faith! Um, yes, I want feedback. The more the merrier. I want to know if I'm writing some decent stuff or...not...decent stuff. Alright that's all the commentary for tonight, my brain needs rest.

Disclaimer: Everything that has to do with Final Fantasy and belongs to Square Enix...um...belongs to Square Enix. The new characters such as Tori and Miya Momoko are mine.

* * *

Tori Momoko didn't consider herself pretty. In fact, if anything she thought of herself as one of the plainest slips of female life there ever was. Many girls who, like her, were seventeen-years-old usually had looks that would make monsters swoon around them and figures that could kill. Tori was always the black sheep of the flock. The other girls would have rich, flowing black hair whereas she was stuck with a dark brown that had a slight curl to it. Her eyes were brown too, but when she looked at them, they weren't rich like the other girls. Of course, these thoughts may have just been the side effects of common teenage feelings or perhaps it was just some case of PMS, but Tori blamed her plainness solely on fate. Maybe she just wasn't meant to be a pretty young woman with friends left and right, which was what some girls seemed to be able to do miraculously, even in these dark times.

It had been two years since Meteor had hit the metropolis that was Midgar, if you could even call it a metropolis. It was more like a city run by a company that was insane enough to be able to get away with sucking the life right out of the planet. She never liked the idea that Shin-Ra was killing the planet, but she'd never had the courage to act like some resistance groups, and, with the passing years, had grown to accept it as a way of life. The concept that some things needed to be given up in order for other things to prosper had been drummed into her head ever since she was a child growing up in the Sector 3 slums. While it certainly didn't make for the best living conditions, at least Sector 3 was a little better than some of the other sectors. There wasn't as much violence and drugs, although this fact didn't mean that her home had been completely safe.

Her parents were as goodly a couple as they could be in such conditions. At least they tried to make life as good as possible for Tori and her younger sister, Miya. Miya was three years younger and had been blessed with a bright and peppy spirit that had the uncanny ability to draw all the attention and affection to herself. She was also, much to Tori's chagrin, given the looks of a supermodel. Before Meteor had hit and Tori and Miya were in the meager high school that Sector 3 could offer, all of the decent guys had been drawn to Miya like moths to a lantern, leaving Tori in a shadow. The strange thing was, that although she recieved all this praise, Miya would always recognize Tori as the older sibling, stronger, wiser, and much more knowledgeable when it came to life on the streets. Miya had always found some way to get herself into trouble when it came to people in the slums. When it ranged from deadbeats who would do anything to pick up a girl or some gang being tracked by the local police that somehow managed to pull Miya along for the ride, Miya had always needed protection, and Tori had been the one to give it.

When Sector 3 was destroyed by the impact of Meteor, Tori and Miya had sought refuge underneath a large pile of rubble that had been a lot sturdier than it appeared. The entire city had been in a panic and it had been by sheer luck that the sisters had been near the ruins when they were. Their parents, however, hadn't been so fortunate. Soon after Tori and Miya had crawled out of their shelter with dirt and ashes all over their high school uniforms and with little more injuries than cuts and bruises all over their skin, they had gone back to their once familiar home only to face a near barren plot of land, their parents nowhere to be seen. The sisters had searched day and night through the damage for their parents just as so many other people around the ruined city had done, always searching for lost loved ones that they knew deep within their hearts hadn't made it.

Well, now that their old life was gone, a new life had to be established. Days of wandering around the ruined Midgar left the sisters mentally and physically exhausted and completely vulnerable to anything that might come their way. They had barely able to survive without resorting to common thievery to get food. Not like anyone ever tried to resist them, though. The food they found had been left over in the ruins of homes all around the remains of the sectors. The inhabitants of the homes had either been dead or, like them, had gone to search for a new life. It had been through the kindness of a benevolent old man that Tori and Miya had found hope. He had found the sisters asleep side-by-side in a little alcove under a spent machine and had taken pity on them. He had introduced himself as Jiro and had brought them to his home, which turned out to be a used bookstore in the region that would have been Sector 2 before Meteor. Jiro and his wife had given them food and a place to stay and get cleaned up. The grime from the ruined city had collected on them, making them not at all recognizable when compared to how they had looked before.

After the generous hospitality offered, Tori and Miya had wanted to repay the elderly couple in some way, so, in return for giving them a place to stay, the sisters began to work in the bookstore and do errands for them while trying to help the rest of the people in the sector who weren't as fortunate rebuild their lives. For two years Tori and Miya lived in this way. While the rest of Midgar was recovering, they had found a rare solace that, unfortunately, along with the temporary peace that the rest of Midgar had found, was doomed to end.


	2. Peace Before a Nightmare

A/N: Woah, okay, this is probably one of the longer chapters I'll be writing. I just got really into it and didn't want to stop. Strange how time flies when you're writing. Anyway, this chapter finally gets some action in, and you know what that means…people actually talk! Sorry, it's just that I'm really pleased with how this chapter turned out. But enough of my babbling, please, read on.

Disclaimer: Again, Kadaj, Yazoo, Loz, and everything else that was in the Final Fantasy VII game belongs to Square-Enix. Everything else, such as original characters, belongs to me.

* * *

It was another one of those "slow days" at Jiro's Book, a comfortable name that fit the worn building on the side of Sable Avenue, somewhere in the middle of the old Sector 2. All of the buildings on that street had some amount of damage to them. The Midgarians around the area hadn't spent too much time trying to rebuild that part of town. Most of the repair efforts in the city had been concentrated towards the "more important" parts of town, namely the business areas near Midgar's center. No one had given a second thought to the more rustic portions, leaving the old and mostly abandoned buildings to slowly waste away. What few people lived on the street sought shelter under makeshift roofs over their balconies; their homes too broken down to even harbor the thought of holding life again.

That was the reason why Tori wondered what on the planet had possessed Jiro and his wife to keep their store on that street. The people in the sector obviously had no need for books, but when questioned, Jiro would always defend his location by claiming that if there was at least one person who still had a flicker of intelligence that was in need of a good read that came to their store, then all the long hours of waiting would be worth.

_And what long hours they are, _thought Tori as she lay her head down on the counter. The musty smell of books combined with the warmth that had seeped in from the late summer day was beginning to make her feel sleepy. During the long hours when she had first begun to work at the store, she would usually pick out a book from one of the shelves and read. Not that Jiro minded this, though. To him, it was just a good way of advertisement. Tori didn't care as long as she had something to help pass the time.

Miya had gone out with Jiro's wife, Emiko, to do some shopping, and Tori had no idea where Jiro had run off to. Most likely in his room doing…whatever old people do when they've got some time to kill, she thought. Come to think of it, what _do_ old people do when they had time to kill? Look at old pictures? Read some of the thousands of books or magazines they'd collected over the decades that they'd been alive? Check out young people of the opposite gender? The latter made her shudder and she chuckled, her forehead shaking against the cool top of the counter. Now that she thought about it, this wasn't too uncomfortable a position, really.

Folding up her arms on the counter surface, she laid down her head and drifted off into darkness. It wasn't like anyone would need her today from the looks of things.

* * *

Four miles away on a plain nearly covered completely with rocks and ashes, a young man sat smirking on a motor bike, leering down at the ruined city with two, cat-like green eyes. A portion of his silver, shoulder-length hair fell gently over his right eye, giving him a calm but lethal look. He was clad in a black, leather suit that was zipped down slightly to show a portion of smooth neck. There was no doubt that he would have been very handsome if the look on his face hadn't been so forbidding.

On either side of him, two more men who bore a striking resemblance to the young man were also perched on top of motor bikes. The man on his left had much shorter hair that was curled up slightly at the very end and looked considerably older and burlier. He also wore black leather, but his was zipped down much farther, revealing not only his neck, but a great deal of chest. His expression was smug, and he looked a great deal impatient.

The young man paid this man's restlessness no mind. He didn't have the time to worry over trivial matters, never mind that both of these men were his brothers. At the moment, they had to prepare for revenge.

The city cast a great silhouette against the mountain behind it, emphasizing every skyscraper that had once stood proudly over the landscape. The young man, named Kadaj to be exact, could only imagine what the city must have looked like before their eldest brother, the exalted one, had brought judgment upon the concrete jungle. Kadaj hadn't been awakened yet when that had happened. He had still been shut up in that accursed cell where he had been spawned. The only thing that he was proud of when he thought about that dismal beginning was that he had been cloned from the cells that had once existed with his powerful older brother.

And it wasn't just him that shared that fate. All three brothers had been the only successful clones out of many failed attempts to produce more of the promised one. Of course, he knew the name of his older brother, but to refer to such a proud figure as just "Sephiroth" seemed improper. Especially when that name had been given to him by _humans_, the most pitiful life forms on the planet, in his opinion. He was glad that so many could have been destroyed when their brother summoned Meteor. They didn't deserve dominion over the planet.

At this train of thought, Kadaj chuckled lowly to himself, drawing the attention of his shorter-haired brother, Loz.

"What are you laughing at," He said in a deep voice.

Kadaj's smile faded slightly. He really hated it when people had to ruin his fun with their stupidity.

"Nothing," He replied at first, not bothering to turn to Loz for a moment before he finally turned, the smirk returning to his lips. "I was just thinking that it's such a shame that we didn't stop for an opportunity to clean up a bit before we left the laboratory. You certainly look as though you could have used it."

Having said this, he turned back forward and laughed, a heartless laugh, just as a look of anger passed across his brother's face. After breaking free of their home laboratory once and rejoining with their master, the one who had invested in their creation, they had had to return in order to get the instruments that were fundamental in their plans. Just considering those plans would send Kadaj into a flurry of excited shivers if he wasn't careful. Best not to think about that now.

He turned around to his other brother, Yazoo, the one seated on a bike to his right, expecting to see the same glee that he had, resulting from his comment to Loz. What he found deadened his spirits a bit and almost made him scowl with annoyance.

His brother was staring straight forward, as if he hadn't heard the conversation at all. The same, indifferent look that always plastered his features hadn't changed the slightest bit. Kadaj didn't know why Yazoo couldn't even show a slight bit of amusement once in a while. That concept surely wouldn't kill him, but it was as though Yazoo thought of himself as being higher than common emotions, because every time Kadaj saw him, Yazoo had that same expressionless face that made it impossible to tell whose side he was on sometimes.

The thing that frustrated Kadaj the most was that although Yazoo was almost always void of any emotion, it didn't do a thing to dull his good looks, which even he had to admit Yazoo possessed. His older brother had long hair, which was silver just like Kadaj and Loz's, and although he had the same turquoise eyes that Kadaj had, they weren't as menacing, with normal pupils instead of thin, pointed ones. His face also had an overall, much more gentle appeal to it, making him look what people would probably think of as more "beautiful" than handsome. Like Loz and Kadaj, Yazoo was wearing black leather that was tight enough to show that his body was lither than that of his brothers, but instead of flaunting as much skin as his brothers. Yazoo kept his suit zipped up to the middle of his neck. It was as if he was always afraid that someone might see his pale skin as a disgrace. Kadaj couldn't think of any reason for his brother to think that. Yazoo could probably have anyone he wanted if he tried, and even then he wouldn't have had to try very hard. No doubt whatever girl he was trying to pick up would be too mesmerized by his face to think coherently, let alone reject him.

At long last, Kadaj finally did scowl and turned back to look forward.

"Well, never mind about that. We'll have plenty of time to clean up after we get back to our master," He said, putting his hands on the controls of his bike, indicating it was time to leave.

His brothers followed suit, Loz now with an even more smug and somewhat more disgruntled look and Yazoo with that never-changing, serene gaze.

Forcing all negative thoughts to the back of his mind, Kadaj tried to focus on the joyous occasion that would soon come to pass when they presented their master with their gifts, and with that, they began to approach the ruined city.

* * *

A sudden noise of something wooden cracking against the counter woke Tori with a mighty start and she quickly jumped to sit upright, finding herself face-to-face with a very unamused Jiro. Tori gulped. She knew Jiro didn't like it when he caught people slacking off. Heck, he sometimes reprimanded himself when he was being lazy during the times when he was required.

"Well, well, well. I see that somebody has finally decided to come back to their work," Jiro scolded, the tone not fitting in with his normally kind and benevolent tone of voice. Jiro wasn't at all a cruel man; it's just that if you happened to tick him off, you'd better get ready for a telling off.

Truth be told, Tori had to suppress a giggle at seeing Jiro so somber. Jiro looked like the stereotypical old man, the kind with a long beard and thick, white eyebrows that nearly covered his eyes. At first glance, it would seem impossible that he could be upset, but, of course, nobody had perfect patience, and Tori knew it would be unwise to laugh while Jiro was acting like this.

"I'm sorry, Jiro. It's just that we haven't had many customers today and I haven't gotten much sleep these past few days," Tori said, rubbing her eyes with one hand to prove her point.

"Hm," Jiro hummed disapprovingly, "And whose fault is that I wonder?"

Tori avoided his gaze at that, quickly looking down guiltily. The real reason why she hadn't been getting too much sleep was because Miya and herself had developed the worst habit of spying on their neighbors, especially now that a few shady-looking characters had been seen around, some of which didn't look too bad at all. Spying wasn't a hard task in Sector 2 really. Because most of the people didn't actually live too far into their houses and spent most of their time on their front porches, it made the task fairly easy. Still, Tori hated the thought that she may be turning into a creep. She made a mental note to stop as soon as possible. Or, at least until those dang hot young men stopped hanging around the alleyways at night. Whereas she was content just to watch them, Miya was a little more cautious. Just days before Miya had confided in Tori that she thought she had seen men that looked a lot like Turks on the streets. Tori had believed that after Meteor had hit, the Turks would dissipate, but if Miya's intuition was correct, then what would retired Turks possibly want with them? That there might be something illegal going on so near to their home scared Tori to death. Yes, really ought to stop spying, as it only made her more nervous every day.

"Just as I thought," Jiro said, startling Tori out of her revery. Odd, did he sound a little proud of his success? Whether or not he knew about Miya and Tori's midnight vigils, Tori didn't know, but part of her wasn't desperate to find out, either.

Jiro looked around the store before saying, "Well, I suppose your right. Business hasn't exactly been chaotic today."

_Has it ever been chaotic?_ Tori couldn't help but think, and she had to hold back another giggle.

Hearing the muffled laughter, Jiro looked back at her suspiciously before saying, "Well, I'll tell you what. I'll let you off this time if you do a real quick errand for me. At least the exercise may be able to keep you awake."

Tori sighed a little with relief. As long as the errand wasn't long or embarrassing, she was getting off pretty easily this time. Not that she'd _ever_ done anything before to tick Jiro off, mind you.


	3. Things get Complicated

Apparently Tori had slept longer than she thought. When she had first stepped outside the bookstore, the first thing she noticed was the dramatic drop in temperature from earlier that evening. The days that summer had followed the same pattern. Hot during the day and nearly frigid during the night. She had overheard rumors from people in the bookstore that it may have had something to do with the pollution that still existed in the air above Midgar messing up with the quality of the various chemicals in the Troposphere and blah, blah, blah... Obviously there _were_ some people with remaining intellect that had survived the disaster two years before if they knew how to talk like _that_, which would make Jiro's theory about smart people actually making the effort to come to a bookstore in the middle of an abandoned neighborhood correct. All Tori knew was that she would definitely not fit in with the scientific crowd. That kind of thing was too...book smarts. All Tori needed to know was that the weather was being affected by pollution and she wouldn't care less about the details.

Speaking of the sky, there was a beautiful sunset that had begun to develop over the city. That probably had something to do with the atmosphere too, but thinking about that after just waking up would give Tori a migraine. She went back inside the bookstore to retrieve her denim jacket and hat that Emiko had knitted her. Tori smiled when she chose picked up the olive-colored hat. After Jiro and Emiko had taken them in and discovered their possessions had been destroyed, Emiko had immediately set about to supply them with new clothing, about half knitted and half made of material sewn together. She had been so kind, Tori and Miya assumed they would be indebted to the elderly couple for practically forever.

Leaving the bookstore once again, Tori noticed that the sunset's colors had begun to deepen. She decided to get the errand for Jiro over with quickly. She really didn't want to be stuck outside with the crowd that hung around these streets at night. Especially if Miya was right and there were Turks around. The errand was simple, all she had to do was go to a delivery service on the edge of the sector and bring back a box of books that was delivered there earlier that day. As long as the box wasn't too heavy, she should be able to get back before it got too late. She would just keep to the middle of the street where the lamp posts still emitted light. She would be able to see if anyone came up to her, and if they intended to do her harm, Tori would have to recall the days of karate that she had taken when she was 14. Sure she had only gotten to a yellow belt, but that was probably enough, she hoped.

Starting down the street towards the edge of the sector, she straightened her back and tried to look as confident as possible.

* * *

Yazoo stood in the doorway of the lobby of the dilapidated hotel that served as his and his brother's base, a hand on both posts. It was near an abandoned highway and well out of the way of the crowded business areas of the city. Master had specifically chosen the building because apparently it still had working gas pipes that had once run through to a kitchen area; the perfect place to set up a makeshift laboratory. 

Loz and Kadaj had gone in before him; Loz immediately flopping down on one of the ancient sofas near the waiting area, propping his feet up on a footstool and letting out a heavy sigh, and Kadaj making his way to the counter to take an inventory of everything they had retrieved from their "home" laboratory.

Just going back to the place had brought back memories that Yazoo would prefer to forget. Everywhere he went, he could almost hear voices of doctors and scientists, always evaluating experiments and talking about whatever nearly inhumane practice they were going to attempt next. It made him want to clutch his head and shake it as if it would free his mind from the torment whenever he thought back to those memories. He suspected his brothers were suffering the same thing. Loz's arrogant composure had wilted quite a bit and Kadaj had looked paler and more perturbed than Yazoo had ever seen him. After they had collected the instruments they needed, all three had been all too eager to flee the place and come back to the base.

After a moment, Kadaj smiled and closed the bag of equipment before saying, "Perfect, we've got everything Master requested."

"Good, that means we don't have to get to that heck hole," Loz said coolly.

Kadaj smirked, "Why? Were you afraid of a little…building? You should have seen the look on your face when we walked into the chemical lab! It was hilarious!"

He said the last sentence nearly laughing, although Yazoo could tell it was somewhat forced. Loz just scowled.

"Yeah? Well, you didn't look your best in there either. You looked like you were gonna be sick half the time."

Kadaj's smirk quickly faded to be replaced with a sudden uncertainty and he looked as though he were searching for a way to response in his own defense. He fondled the bag a bit and murmured something under his breath as he inched slightly towards the stairway that lead up to their rooms, one which held their master. Yazoo had to admit to himself that he was slightly amused by the fact that part of his brother's placidity had been chipped away to reveal a much more uneasy person.

"Ha! So you admit it then, you _were_ scared," Loz exclaimed, slapping the arm of the couch.

Kadaj spun around and glared at his older brother. The uneasiness Yazoo had sensed was gone.

"It's not that I was frightened. I just didn't like going back to the place where we treated as a minority," he spat. "They have no idea of the power we will possess when our brother is revived."

After he'd said this, a much more serene look drifted across his gaze, reminded of something that subdued his anger. Seeing this discomfited Loz and Yazoo somewhat, but then Kadaj broke out of his reverie and started back towards the stairwell.

"But enough of this. I'm going to tell Master what we've done."

Then, as though he recalled something important, he turned to Yazoo, who had not moved from the doorway, and half smiled.

"Ah yes, I just remembered that one of us should go out and gather information on anything that may have happened while we were gone."

He held out a hand to Yazoo in an inviting gesture, "Yazoo, will you do the honors?"

Yazoo inwardly sighed. Of course the duty would fall to him to him instead of Loz tonight. Loz didn't exactly have a reputation in being the tamest person on the streets. Every time he went out to gather information in one of his disguises he would always get on at least one person's nerves. Then the scene would turn into an all out brawl and he would come stumbling back with that arrogant smirk and only a few snippets of information. Yazoo could tell Kadaj's patience was wearing thin with his brother.

Seeing that Kadaj was actually waiting for a reply, Yazoo nodded in acquiescence. Kadaj's smile widened and he clapped his hands together, having a bit of difficulty with the bag still in his hand. "Excellent. Now, I'm going to continue with my report to Master."

"Hey! Why are you sending him," Loz piped up indignantly.

"Ah, maybe because he doesn't try to break the legs of every person he comes across and actually _tries_ to get some information," Kadaj said, casting a sharp glare at Loz.

Loz just snarled and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "I don't see you trying to do anything useful out there…"

"What was that," Kadaj asked with a tone of lethal calm, raising one of his eyebrows.

Deciding he'd probably never see the end of this quarrel and have enough time to salvage for information, Yazoo promptly turned from his brothers, who were now staring daggers at each other, and collected a brown trench coat from the coat rack near the lobby door. Hopefully when he came back there wouldn't be a dead body lying where one of his brothers used to be.

* * *

Tori shivered as she walked down the street. The chill air of the night was beginning to cut through her denim jacket to get to her skin. She coiled her arms around herself and tried to walk a little more briskly. 

So far, she had been walking fifteen minutes and there had been no trouble. She relaxed a little. Miya had always told her not to be so uptight, but she couldn't help it. If gangs on the street had been bad before Meteor, what could they be like now?

The sky had darkened enough for the lampposts to kick on when Tori reached the delivery service. She went in and was relieved to find it quite a few degrees higher than the outside. The woman at the counter directed her to a fairly large box in the corner of the room when she explained who had sent her. For its size, it was actually very light when compared to the other boxes of books that Jiro had Tori haul around. Maybe she had just built up her muscles over the past couple of years.

She went back outside and immediately hugged the box closer, as if it would supply her with warmth. As she looked down the empty street, she realized she could barely see the areas that weren't lit up by the lamp posts. She took a breath to calm her nerves. Why on this planet Jiro had sent her on the errand AT NIGHT Tori didn't understand. Maybe he had thought that since she was going to be up anyway, she would have no problem with it. Well, even if this _did_ fit in with her sleep patterns, she still didn't feel comfortable when she was on the street instead of staring down at it.

Starting back, Tori couldn't help but cast quick side glances at particularly nasty-looking alleyways. There were a couple of times when she thought she heard a noise only to find that it was an ordinary rat or a homeless guy that looked even more harmless than a circus clown. It was halfway back when she her thoughts tried to comfort her by telling her that she was being ridiculous. She was a teenage girl, who really wasn't that pretty, with a box of books, what would anybody want with her? For some reason, part of her wasn't being reassured, and she continued to jump every time she heard the smallest sound.

When she reached the entrance to a particular wide alleyway, she suddenly heard the sounds of low voices echoing against the walls of the abandoned buildings and sounds of multiple footsteps getting closer. Tori's heart began to beat uncomfortably fast and she started walking a little faster. Truth be told, she couldn't tell which way the sounds were coming from because of the effects of the echoing. This only served to make her speed up even more and she passed several more alleyways in the time span of a few minutes. She tried to hide her face as much as possible by staring down at the ground while she walked; causing her to collide into something that suddenly appeared as if from nowhere out of another alley.

She stumbled backward a few feet before dropping the box in her arms in her efforts to steady herself. The box fell with a loud thud turning onto its side and spilling much of its contents onto the pavement. Tori looked up to see that she had collided with a man much taller than herself with stubble that made it look as though he was desperately trying to grow out a beard but things weren't working out quite right.

"Hey, watch where your goin'," He said in a horribly slurred voice that indicated he was very drunk.

"I-I'm sorry," Tori said with a slight bow of her head before she knelt down to pick up her books. She felt a rough hand grab her arm behind her and pull her to her feet.

"Now, now, there ain't no need to be rude, Lester," Came an equally slurred voice that belonged to the hand. Tori bit her lip and turned her head to face this man. He had small scars all over his face, some which looked uncomfortably like knife wounds. His hair was combed back and looked very shiny as if he had put gallons of hair gel in it

"She should've been looking where she was walkin' instead of starin's at the ground like there were banana peelin's all over," Lester said impatiently. "T's her fault if ya ask me, Hyde."

Hyde ignored Lester and turned Tori to look at him fully in the face. She could literally feel his eyes scanning over her features, and that, combined with the putrid smell of his breath, made her wrinkle up her nose and nearly made her want to vomit.

"Yeh know, for a runt, yer not half bad lookin," Hyde grinned, revealing two rows of unkempt teeth.

Tori turned away, trying not to look too disgusted. Such a thing would probably spur the men into hurting her.

"Please, I'm only trying to get back to my home. It's only a few blocks away and my family will get worried if I don't get back," She said, trying to keep her voice from wavering too much. She had fallen into the habit of calling Jiro, Emiko, and Miya her family, even if the paperwork still had to be thoroughly completed. It was a comfort to think of them right now.

"Hey now, what's the rush? I was actually hopin' you would come with us an' have some fun. Me and Lester here were just on our way to our favorite night spot," Hyde said with what sounded disgustingly like hope in his voice.

"Aw come on, Hyde, she'd only slow us down," Lester said, annoyed.

"You shut yer trap before I shut it fer ya," Hyde said menacingly to Lester before turning back to Tori, his features softening. "So whatt'ya say, want to come have a night on the town before we get back to the agency?"

Agency? What agency was there around here?

Tori squinted through the darkness to get a look at the men's black outfits, only to gasp as a sickening ball of dread fell through her stomach when she instantly recognized the unkempt uniforms.

One thing was for sure, Miya's theory about some people on the streets had been right. These men were Turks.

* * *

A/N: Behold my feeble attempts to make drunken people talk! Ok, so I guess I did kind of promise that my chapters weren't going to be as long as the last one, well, I'm sorry, I lied. From the looks of things there all pretty much going to be this long. Don't worry; I'll get Yazoo talking soon enough. Right now he's being the quiet type, but he'll get to say more as the story progresses. His voice shall be heard! Anyway, please send feedback. I'll get the next chapter up very soon. 

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy stuff...Square-Enix. Original stuff...me.


	4. A Plan is Revealed

A/N: I'm sorry about the wait. I meant to put this chapter up a long time ago, like within the first 4 days, but then Chemistry-related stress and some unexpected events came up and well…you know the deal. It won't take two weeks for the next chapter, don't worry. Just as a warning, this chapter contains a large amount of alcoholic references and I'm sorry if anyone's offended. No one does anything…like…rated R, their just drunk. Well, anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy-related things are owned by Square-Enix. Original stuff is owned by me.

* * *

If Lester or Hyde heard any of Tori's protests at being dragged around by the arm like a big rag doll, either they were too drunk to take any notice, or they didn't have enough brains to realize what she meant. They had already taken her about halfway around the city and still they hadn't arrived at the two Turk's "favorite night stop". The cloudy sky had now darkened to the point where the stars were no longer visible. Tori wondered exactly how late it was. 

During the first hour of their escapade, Tori had tried to pull away and convince the men to let her go, but this only served to get on Lester's nerves and he finally told her to shut up. Hyde glared at Lester and said, "What did I ah'say before about bein' rude, ya moron!"

Lester only shrugged his shoulders dismissively, "She's just gonna slow us down. You know they don't let children in the bar."

Hyde suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, almost causing Tori to run into him. He wobbled for a second, rubbing his chin with one of his hands. He looked down at Tori and she could see that he was having a difficult time trying to get his eyes to focus.

"Hm...I didn't look at it that way."

"Good, let's get back to our shifts then," Lester said.

"Does this mean I can go," Tori asked with a hopeful tint in her voice.

Lester and Hyde exchanged amused glances and Tori's heart sunk. What more did they want with her?

"Well, as much as we'd love to, sweetheart," Hyde grinned wide enough to show his grimy teeth, "But I'm afraid you still owe us a date."

There were so many things about that comment that repulsed Tori that she almost slapped Hyde. She thought better of it though, as Lester said, angrily, "What are we gonna do with her then?"

"We'll just take'r on duty with us," Hyde said as if it solved everything. "We might as well have a little fun with her before we have to..."

At this, Hyde glanced sideways at Tori while Lester grunted disapprovingly.

Finally, he relented, "Fine, don't make much difference to me."

The men continued dragging Tori along and she felt a rising panic, "What do you mean? What are you going to do with me?"

"Now donchya worry 'bout a thing," Hyde said like he was talking to an eight-year-old. "You'll see what we mean later."

Lester gave her a conspiratorial grin, making Tori gulp. Suddenly her yellow belt in karate didn't seem as powerful as before.

* * *

Kert gaped across the counter at the young man as he completely downed another ale. He was already on his fourth sitting and still didn't show any signs that he was intoxicated at all. Kert had never expected a person with so much class to have such durability. Heck, he didn't expect a person with such class to be here, period. 

The man was wearing a dark brown trench coat with silver fastenings on all the pockets and a black turtle neck that peeked out over the rim of the trench coat. He had black leather gloves and a black ribbon that was tied around his long hair in the back. There was a small portion of pale hair that hung down just between his eyes. One of his hands clutched the tankard that he was drinking while the other hand was wrapped around the silver headpiece of a cane. It was obvious he was a foreigner. Kert had never seen anyone in Midgar dress that way.

The young man set the tankard back down on the counter and slid a ten gil piece across the counter.

"You sure you want another one," Kert asked, not believing that this newcomer wasn't the least bit fazed by all of that alcohol.

The youth nodded and paused before saying, "Won't you have one yourself? I'm starting to feel guilty that I'm drinking all of this in front of you when you're not."

Kert nodded in agreement as he filled two more tankards from a keg built into the bar wall. "Yeah, I think I will. The regulars aren't going to believe this though."

"Believe what," Came the reply from behind the counter.

"The fact that there's someone who can drink four of our trademark ales and not be passed out dead as a bear rug," Kert said exasperatedly, "I don't know how I'm gonna tell them that someone's beat their record."

The young man chuckled as he took the tankard offered to him, "Well, I've always had a gift when it comes to ale."

"This ain't no gift, son," Kert said, taking a large swig himself. "There's some stuff in this that would take a monster down if it was concentrated enough."

The young man raised an eyebrow at this, "And it hasn't been cancelled yet even though it's so dangerous?"

Kert snorted, "It wouldn't make much difference if the stuff wasn't sold or not. Some people would still find a way to either make it or buy. Just because that blasted rock smashed into the city doesn't mean it only took ruffians and left geniuses to run around. I suspect half the people out there right now have done something illegal and never got caught. Do you know what I hear in this bar? It's dang depressing what some of these low-lives talk about!"

He took another huge gulp of his drink and set the tankard heavily down on the counter. During Kert's outburst, the young man had covered his mouth with the hand that wasn't holding his cane as if in deep thought.

A brief silence ensued while both men slowly drained their tankards; the younger taking occasional sips while the older guzzling his down like a professional.

Finally, the youth said quietly, "That's a sad story indeed…but it reminds me…about Meteor…"

Kert raised a curious eyebrow at his drinking companion as the young man continued.

"I've been out of town the last few days, you see, and while I was gone, I was worried about my wife catching that disease, - Geostigma, isn't it? – without my knowing. I was relieved to find her well when I came back…but I've been wondering…how has the epidemic been growing lately?"

Kert went back over to the keg to refill his tankard while he said, "Well, it's only gotten worse, I'm afraid, especially with all the moving that's been going on-"

He suddenly froze, his tankard overflowing a little since he was still holding down the keg nozzle. He'd already said too much. This always happened. Even when he just drank one glass of that despicable poison, he would become an open book of information.

He stole a quick glance over at the younger man, who was watching him closely. Although he definitely had a more sophisticated air about him than some of Kert's regular customers, he had a glint in his eyes that said that his appearance didn't even show a portion of his whole story. One thing was for sure, Kert had to watch his mouth around this one.

* * *

About fifteen minutes of tramping around the streets of the city had passed before the wave of panic that Tori had felt before died down. The Turks weren't very much fun to be around, seeing as they rarely spoke to her, preferring to exchange comments between each other in low voices that would usually result in drunken laughter or one of the two men winking at her unsettlingly. At first, this made Tori nervous, but after a while it just got downright annoying. 

"How much farther are we going," She finally asked. She was tired. She was a bit hungry. Her feet were killing her, and she had no idea where the Jerks had taken her. The buildings around this area looked horrible. Some of the plots were entirely empty; something that reminded Tori of what her parent's home had looked like after Meteor. The thought sent unwelcome shivers down her spine. She didn't want to show any sign of weakness in front of these men.

Lester scowled and waved his hand in dismissal, "Just a little bit more of a walk. It won't kill ya."

"But we'll git run through if we're not back there in half an hour," Hyde said, looking down at his watch.

"You hear that? It'd be in your best interest to _hurry up_," Lester told Tori fiercely.

That was the last straw.

"Or what," Tori yelled, digging her heels into the ground and pulling back against Hyde's strength. "I want to know where we're going _now_! Why do you need me to come with you? My family is probably worried sick and I assure you, they'll try everything they can to find me! It doesn't matter if you're bloody Turks or not!"

At least, Tori hoped that Jiro, Emiko, and Miya would try anything to find her. They may think that it was too much work after a while. At any other time, these thoughts would seem absurd, but as Tori was feeling now, she was beginning to feel her confidence fade.

Lester clapped a harsh hand over Tori's mouth, grabbing her arm and yanking her close to his face.

"Don't say that name so loudly around here. These buildin's look abandoned, but I swear they've got eyes and ears. Now shut up or you'll regret opening yer trap at all," The Turk said through gritted teeth.

Her fury rising, Tori shoved him back with all her strength, not caring that it would probably make Lester more dangerous. She stood as straight as she could and said slowly, her words seething with defiance, "Make…Me."

Well, she did wind up regretting her words to some extent, because it wasn't even five seconds afterward when she found herself being yanked off the ground and thrown over Lester's shoulder like an old sack of potatoes. Her struggles immediately doubled and she kicked and punched at any part of him she could reach. Unfortunately, whatever she did didn't faze Lester at all, and he kept walking along the dark street, one arm securely wrapped around Tori's waist.

After a few minutes, Tori finally started calming down, and with a final elbow to Lester's head, eliciting a satisfying grunt and a curse, before falling silent.

Hyde, who had been watching the pitiful spectacle from a safe distance, noticed the change in Tori's attitude and said, "See? That's better. Now if I tell you where we're going, will you stay this way?"

Tori nodded dully and Hyde grinned.

"Well then, you see that big building up there," Hyde said, pointing up to a crumbling skyscraper that Tori recognized as the old Shin-Ra headquarters and donning the voice that sounded like he was talking to an eight-year-old. "That's where we're headin' for our job tonight, and believe me, girl, you'll love what you see."

* * *

How anyone could stand that vile substance going down their throats was a mystery to Yazoo, but for the sake of his master's plan, he tolerated it. He was just grateful that his master had made his body resistant to such things. He had no doubt he would be able to keep drinking and never get…oh, what was it the humans called it…drunk? 

This man, on the other hand, was a sponge when it came to the drink. In fifteen minutes, Yazoo had managed to convince him to down the second ale, a third, and a shot of whiskey to wash it all down. Quite frankly, he was surprised the bartender was still alive. At least Yazoo was capable of neutralizing the ale in his system.

So far, what conversation they managed to have had covered everything from their families, to chocobos, to materia. By now the bartender was so intoxicated he could hardly keep from giggling insanely every few seconds, an act which would have anyone running to Icicle Village a long time in seconds. Yazoo was nearly no exception.

"Well, I'll tell ya," The older man said, leaning his arm on the counter for support, "You'd best be careful when you get out o' here. There ah've been some shady folk around lately."

Yazoo looked up at the bartender, "Oh, really?" Perhaps this would be a good lead.

The interest in his voice went unnoticed as the bartender continued, "Yeah, you shoulda seen the two guys that were in here earlier. I swear to the planet they were Turks."

"I thought the Turks dissipated after Shin-Ra headquarters was destroyed," Yazoo said with a raised eyebrow.

The bartender laughed, "That's always what they want you to think, isn't it? That they're all gone. No. Trust me, those Shin-Ra freaks are like voodoo. No matter what you try, they'll never die out. They've 'specially been cowdin' around here. Probably 'cause this place has got a street that heads straight to those Shin-Ra ruins."

"Why would they want to go back? I would think they would be happier now," Yazoo said.

The bartender smirked, "I know, that's what I thought too, but I'll tell yeh something."

He leaned forward slightly, acting as if the next thing he said would be vital to the planet.

"A while ago, one o' those devils was sitting right where you are now, and he told me that someone's been hiring them to 'safeguard' a few things in that building."

"And no one's tried to investigate?"

The older man snorted, "What did I say 'bout the scum around here? They look high and mighty but they haven't got the guts to do anything but sit and cram drinks down their gullet."

Yazoo grimaced. This was getting unbearable. He pushed stood up out of the bar stool, "I think I've had enough now. Good day to you."

As he turned to leave, the bartender kept talking as if he had heard Yazoo say something completely different.

"Yeah, and then when a Turk-punk gets in here and starts blabbing about the experiments, the drunks think he's talking about the turkey at Thanksgiving."

Yazoo stopped and gave the bartender a sharp look. "What?"

The bartender gave another obnoxious giggle and dropped his voice low, "I meant the experiments they have locked up in the headquarter ruins. I learned from one of them Turks that came in here a while back that some of the experiments that were moved out of the city before Meteor had been moved back in."

That's what Master had told Yazoo and his brother's, that the experiment that was essential to their plan had been moved out of the city. That the experiments had been moved back in, however, was new. That meant that there may have been a chance that the one he and his brothers needed was close.

Yazoo couldn't turn away from this. Something at the back of his mind was making him desperate to hear more. And it wasn't just because this knowledge was helpful to their plan, either.

Striding quickly back to the counter, Yazoo placed his hands on its surface and said, "Did you hear what kind of experiments they are?"

The bartender placed a hand on his chin for a moment, "Well now, I can't say I quite remember."

He lowered his brown eyes to meet Yazoo's own turquoise ones and a said with another smirk, "Besides, even if I did remember, what makes you think I'd tell you. Those Turks'd probably find out and be all over this place like flies on a carcass."

Yazoo put a hand inside his trench coat and gripped the handle of his Velvet Nightmare gunblade. He was tempted to kill this man now, an act that Loz would have done without hesitation. Yazoo couldn't understand why he was thinking this way when just a moment ago he had been in his normal "cool and collected" state. He forced himself to calm down. It would be dangerous to pursue the subject any further anyway. Even if the man was drunk, there was a chance that, when he became sober again, he would have remembered Yazoo's face and that he had wanted to know so much about the experiments. Yazoo and his brother didn't need more trouble with the humans to worry about.

He straightened up and turned back towards the door.

"Point taken. I'm sorry if I've kept your bar open too late."

The bartender smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry 'bout it. We close late anyway. Come back again anytime you want."

"Good day," Yazoo said, not turning around as he left.

The good thing about drunks was that they didn't really detect anything that happened around them too well. The man hadn't even noticed Yazoo put the drop of potion in his ale that would make him forget every word of conversation they had that night. But still, that potion didn't completely well every time, so it was a good thing that Yazoo hadn't told him everything.

As soon as he closed the bar door, he considered going back to the abandoned hotel to tell what he had heard to Kadaj. His leader should know…but still…

_Yazoo…_

He looked up at the ruins of Shin-Ra headquarters. The distance really wasn't that far.

_My son…_

Hm…it seemed like he should recognize that voice. He'd heard it before, while he was in the cell in the laboratory. It had uttered quiet assurances and spoke of revenge and exaltation; the same promises that his master had told the brothers, but in a different voice.

_Come to me…Don't worry…I'll be there…_

Yazoo's mind was made up. Kadaj could wait.

Starting off down the street, his eyes never left the ruins of the large skyscraper in the middle of the city. He didn't pay any mind to the curious looks he received from the night-owls who sat on their balconies, watching him go by, thinking that he remarkably resembled someone who they once feared.

All he could think of was getting to the place that he was now sure held the being, Jenova.

His mother.

* * *

A/N: Okay, Yazoo's appearance in this chapter is kind of based on the appearance of a character in a movie. Now, because this can be a very broad category, I will tell you that it is a character in a Harry Potter Movie, the 2nd one to be exact. Who do you lot think it is? (The reward? The knowledge that you really know your Harry Potter movies. ) 


	5. A Rescue and a First Meeting

A/N: Okay, first of all, I would like to apologize for the wait. I promise, now that summer vacation is coming up for me in one week, I will have so much more time to write! Second of all, I would also like to apologize for the fact that this story is drawing out a bit and I thank you reviewers for bringing that to my attention as you have. To tell you the truth, this chapter and the previous chapter were supposed to be one big chapter, but from the looks of things, the result would have been very long and meandering (I don't know if it's been that way for some of you…I'm sorry!) and it would have taken me a million years to actually post it. Besides, some plot bricks for the rest of the story had to be laid in those chapters. It was actually probably a good thing that I cut these two chapters apart, because while I was writing this one, my computer failed and most of the part that I was working on was completely obliterated. Anyway, thanks for listening to me blab. What are you waiting for? It's the freakin' long awaited for chapter! Hurry up and read!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs to Square-Enix. Original Stuff belongs to me. (Gee, really original.)

* * *

_She watched with amusement as the expression on the young female's face turned from tense curiosity to absolute horror in an instant after the angelic statue that blocked Her view was lifted away. She'd grown accustomed to that look - that disbelief that such a hideous being could exist - from the majority of those who saw Her. The two men who stood on either side of the female were sneering at the girl's reaction. She recognized those men as the ones who were appointed to watch over Her that night. When they had first joined their group of assassins, they had feared Her as all humans should; just as this female feared Her now. Now, while they were intoxicated, they gazed at her with awe, the same look that the scientist, Hojo had given her everyday when She had been under his care._

_That such pitiful humans such as these men did not fear Her was infuriating. They ought to have been afraid after what their kind had done to her first beloved son, especially now that his young brother's were seeking revenge. Already She could sense one of them coming to Her; heeding Her call. Although he was not the son that had the Gift, She still longed to see him. She wanted to see the reflection of Her promised, eldest son in him. Two long years without seeing his face after he had been torn from Her and forced to return to the planet had been unbearable. _

_She could sense the intention of Yazoo's heart. He desperately wanted to see Her just as much as She wanted to see him, and soon, after he returned to his brothers and told them where She was, She would be able to guide all three of them to the one whom they would want to kill…the traitor._

_The female in front of Her was trying to fight against the men that held her in place in order to look away from Her visage. The men effortlessly kept her in place. The girl was saying something in a tone akin to hysteria, but She couldn't make out the youth's words. Humans were so easily moved to panic. _

_The more rugged-looking man clasped his arms around the girl, pinning her arms to her sides and effectively stilling her. When she continue to struggle, the other man with slick hair stepped in front of her and with an expression of cold anger passed over the other man's face and he slapped the young female once directly across the cheek. The being in the glass encasing felt a surge of cruel delight at the girl's shock. She stopped struggling immediately and the man who had struck her whispered harshly that "as long as she shut up, things would go a whole lot smoother." The girl's face fell into hurt and fear and she tried to shrink back into the man holding her, who only laughed moved his arms to grip her upper arms._

_The man with the slick hair moved up to the controls of Her encasing and activated a switch that moved the angel statue back in front of Her, saying that the girl had probably seen enough. Not that She minded all that much. She hated having to look out at the humans. Seeing their undeserved recovery only served to fuel Her destroy them all._

_From outside of the glass, She could hear the girl begging the men to let her go free and the men threatening her to keep quiet, but She knew this wouldn't last long. The group of assassins was kept in utmost secrecy these days, and to lay eyes either Her or one of them was to condemn oneself. This wasn't the only human who had been brought before Her. It only gave the predators more reason to get rid of their prey._

_A sharp cry resounded throughout the room, but Her mind was no longer on the humans. Another presence had joined the room, one of those She longed to see._

_Her son had come.

* * *

_

This room had far too many boxes, Yazoo concluded as he passed yet another stack of wooden crates. He could feel his mother's call reaching for him, growing stronger with each stride as he neared the southern end of the old Shin-Ra building. Jenova's cells in his blood responded to her life force, which he could feel saturated the area; something that a normal human would have never sensed. He had no qualms about that, though. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to be as different from humans as possible, and particularly from their emotions.

Even if he had been alive for a short time, he had grown to believe that emotions would only get in the way of the completion his and his brother's plans. Emotions were full of weakness, especially those of guilt and anger, and he had thought that if he allowed himself to partake in such matters, he would be blinded by them, just as he was sure Kadaj and Loz had been. He had seen clearly how they reveled in their power and their ambition to carry out their master's plans. So, he had convinced himself that the duty fell to him to keep his mind clear and he had immediately hidden his composure behind a mask of indifference. For a while, it had worked.

Now, though, he welcomed his need to find Jenova. Even now he could hear her voice, soothingly whispering assurances of power greater than he could imagine. He was not accustomed to the feelings that that voice stirred within him, but that didn't mean they were unwelcome.

He kept running until he came to a "fork" in the path that the boxes around him made and paused. _He was so close._

Stopping proved to be a mistake. Although his body had been made to be fitter than that of a human, it didn't keep him from getting tired. Leaning heavily against a crate with a peeling Shin-Ra emblem on its side, he allowed himself a moment to catch his breath.

It was just then that a sharp cry resounded from behind a row of large metal crates just to his left; the same direction where he could feel his mother's beckoning. It was only now did he realize how close he was and a new excitement flickered in his head.

His weariness completely forgotten, he pushed away from the wooden crates and ran along the path through the maze of boxes. It only took him a minute before he reached an opening in the stacks and found himself on the edge of a clearing near the wall of the ruined building.

Yazoo's eyes were almost immediately drawn to the opposite side of the clearing. A metallic figurehead took up most of the wall. It was in the shape of a silver angel, and although Yazoo had to admit it was beautiful, he knew that just behind the statue resided a being that to him would be more beautiful, more divine than anything that he had laid eyes on in his life thus far. It was from behind the figurehead that he felt the longed for life force radiating.

A sudden movement in the corner of his eye was somehow able to attract his attention enough to pull his reluctant eyes away from his mother, dulling the feelings that Jenova's call had stirred in him somewhat now that their bond had been broken, and since that part of his mind had been cleared, there was room for the confusion that was caused by the scene before him.

Two men were facing a large metal crate, struggling to keep something restrained. Yazoo could see that whatever was there was trying it's best to put up a good fight. He moved away from the opening in the boxes to get a better view of the creature.

A female was there, a young woman with brown hair that fell just below her collarbone. Her dark eyes were full of fear as was pinned against the crate by the more rugged man while the other man tried to keep her silent. The girl would occasionally get out a small scream, but she was only answered with one of the men hitting her across the face or in her abdomen. Yazoo could see her struggles were beginning to subside, and if she gave up, then these men looked about ready to kill her.

Yazoo frowned slightly. This wasn't…right. His feelings were in a jumble inside of his head. Part of him still wanted desperately to see his mother. She _was_ only a few feet away. He could turn around right now and answer her call to see him, but his _other_ feelings wouldn't allow it.  
They kept him rooted to the spot, watching in a haze as the men preyed on the girl.

It was when the man with the slick hair gave a particularly hard slap on the young girl's cheek when the spark was set off in Yazoo's brain. The confusion from first setting his eyes on the group was gone in an instant, to be replaced by a growing fury. Before he knew it, the emotion had taken over, and a new emotion, an almost primal desire to protect the weaker creature, filled him to the point where he was finally propelled forward, as silently as a cat on the hunt, to arrive directly behind the man pinning the girl down.

Grabbing the collar of the man's jacket with the hand that wasn't holding his silver-topped cane, he yanked the man away and threw him back as effortlessly as tossing a pillow away. The man stumbled and fell, but managed to stay in an upright position as he tried to focus on what had just happened. The other man paused in his advances on the girl to look up, only to be met with Yazoo's fist. He was forced back, gripping a now bleeding nose and cursing. The girl, now unaided, slid to the ground, crumpling in a faint. Yazoo would have checked on her right then if he hadn't been preoccupied with the men.

The rugged man pulled himself to his feet and glared at Yazoo. "And who d'ya think you are, stranger, barging in on us like that? We were just having a bit o' fun."

His slurring gave away the fact that he was drunk. This would make things so much easier.

"My face," The slick man yelled indignantly, "Lester, show this swank no mercy! You'll pay for what you did to my beautiful face!"

At the same time, they ran towards Yazoo, ready to bear down on him with all their might. He fended off their drunken blows with ease, delivering smooth hits of his own into every inch of their pitiful faces and stomachs as he could with his fist. Not to say he didn't use his cane, of course. After a few minutes of battle, both men were sporting bruises from the silver headpiece as well as slashes from the cane's end. Both men were eventually forced to give up their head-on tactic and they separated themselves from either side of him to stop and take a breather.

"Hey Hyde, this guy ain't foolin' around," The man named Lester said in between gasps.

Hyde smirked, "Well then, best we stopped foolin' around too."

In a second, both men had whipped out their revolvers and had the barrels pointed at him. This caused no concern in Yazoo. The men probably wouldn't even hit him if he stayed still, seeing how their hands shook.

Simultaneously, both shots fired and all Yazoo had to do was duck to the floor with inhuman agility to avoid the bullets, which, although they had been fired by drunk men, remarkably found their way to the other man's wrist.

Both of them immediately dropped their guns and cried out in agony. It was Lester who recovered first, and with a yell of "You slimy little-," he ran straight towards Yazoo, arms outstretched, looking as angry as a hornet.

Yazoo, still on the floor from where he had ducked to avoid the men's bullets, gripped the man's injured wrist with his free hand and threw him down to the floor on his front with the momentum that he created while standing up at the same time.

Immediately, he heard the approach of Hyde as he tried to catch Yazoo off guard with a surprise attack. Yazoo stepped out of the man's path and right as the man passed him, Yazoo elbowed him squarely in between his shoulder blades, shoving him forward and making him fall in a heap on top of Lester.

While both of the men cursed as they attempted to disentangle themselves and regain their footing, Yazoo reached inside of his brown trench coat, pulled out his prized silver Velvet Nightmare, and pointed the double barreled end directly at the men, determined to finally end this.

Both Lester and Hyde froze at the sight of the gun, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. A heartbeat passed in which everything was still, before the men slowly got to their feet, hands up in the air, the fear obvious on their faces.

"Hey, no hard feelin's alright? We'll just leave it at this if you want. You can have the girl," Hyde said, grinning as though the entire fight had been a game, even if his voice shook severely with uncertainty.

Lester nodded dumbly and continued staring at the gunblade in Yazoo's hand. Yazoo, himself, never took his eyes off either of the men. If he pulled the trigger now, he could kill these men and ensure that they never harmed anyone else. But, in so doing, wouldn't he be helping the future victims, thereby going against his hatred towards all humans? He would be going against his mother's will…but wait, hadn't he _just_ saved a human female from these men?

This realization clicked something off inside his mind, and all at once, all of the feelings from just moments before vanished, including his desire to see Jenova, which meant that all that he was in that instant was a confused, empty shell.

Yazoo lowered his Velvet nightmare and the men gave one quick glance at each other before scrambling through the opening in the crate stacks to get out of Yazoo's sights as quickly as they could.

Yazoo's arm fell limply to his side. His thoughts had become a jumble once again.

He had saved a human. He had saved on of those he hated.

From behind him, he could mother reaching out to him again. She met no resistance.

Yazoo turned to look at the angelic figurehead with a slight feeling of guilt arising from the mass of thoughts in his mind.

"I'm sorry, Mother," He whispered, dazed. "I've gone against your wishes."

He could sense that she was about to reply when suddenly a small whimper sounded from the metal crate to his right. Yazoo followed the source of the noise to see the young human whom he had saved still sprawled out unconscious on the building floor. A hint of worry touched Yazoo's heart, which now felt vulnerable after what had just taken place. He felt an invisible hand push him lightly towards the girl and recognized it to be his Mother. Her disappointed whisper to him to go and finish what he had started was a grave blow to Yazoo's heart, but he went over to the girl's side and knelt down.

He set his cane aside and gently lifted the girl's shoulders, cradling her in his arms as he began patting her cheeks in an attempt to wake her, the new feeling of worry taking its place in the open space of Yazoo's mind.

* * *

The first thing Tori was aware upon awaking was that she had a massive headache and her arms and legs were as sore as if she had been working out for a good long while. She became aware that a soft hand was patting her face, but if she tried to open her eyes, they would reveal nothing but a blurred mess. She grimaced and turned her head slightly. 

When the hand moved and cupped the side of her face, she opened her eyes again. Everything was clearer now, but she still couldn't make out any details of the person leaning over her.

"Where am I," She said, weakly. Of course she remembered where she was, but it had been natural for the question to come out anyway. The events from earlier were coming back quickly.

Lester and Hyde had taken her to the run down Shin-Ra building laughing and joking around like kidnapping a teenager wasn't serious at all. They had entered and the Turks had amazed her with how easily they maneuvered through the maze of boxes in the large room. Then they had come to the clearing…and Hyde had turned to her and asked if she wanted to see something that only a few people were allowed to see and that she should be honored with such an opportunity. Lester had come behind her and held her still while Hyde had worked on the controls to the silver statue. At first she had thought that it was beautiful, until she had been forced to see the alien-like figure behind it. The sight had been too much, and she was ashamed to admit that she had lost her cool.

The men had become aggressive then, especially Hyde, which was an intimidating contrast to his somewhat gentle composure before. They had worked to keep her silent, threatening that if she brought any attention to them, the two Turks would kill her straight away. Although, she didn't have any doubt in her mind that they were planning to kill her anyway. After all, it wasn't like the Turks to show any mercy in general.

The last thing she could remember was Hyde delivering a hard slap, and then Lester's weight being hauled off of her and Hyde being hit so hard that his nose made a sickening, yet strangely satisfying crack before she had fallen into darkness.

So, if that last part was true, and she was still in the building, did that make the person who was holding her now the one who had saved her?

She tried to focus on the person's face, but the effort was making her eyes hurt. Impatiently, she shut them and waited for them to adjust.

"You're in the old Shin-Ra building. Don't you remember what happened," A low voice answered her question from before in a nonchalant tone that sounded slightly forced.

"Yes, it's just…I…I'm sorry…I still have a bit of a headache," She opened her eyes again and tried to smile, but her face fell into amazement at what her vision, now completely clear, was revealing.

She was looking into what was quite possibly the most beautiful face she had ever seen. She couldn't tell whether the person was a woman or a guy at first. The facial features were far too gentle to be a guy, and yet a masculine quality seemed to radiate from the person, too. She concluded that the person must be a man. Besides, any girl who had her hair dyed silver had another thing coming. But was his hair dyed? It looked natural, although it may have just been the dark tint of the room tricking her eyes. She could tell his hair was long, even if it had been tied back. Now that she thought about it, the long hair and face seemed very familiar, but Tori's head was still foggy and she couldn't recognize where she had seen the face before, even _if_ she had seen the face before.

At any rate, and pardon her teenage language (she was still recovering!), this guy was freakin' _hot_!

The man raised an eyebrow and said, "Are you alright?"

She blinked out of her reverie and started when she realized that she had been staring at him for a good thirty seconds at least.

"Um…yes, I'm alright," She replied, trying to sit up much sooner than her body was prepared for. She clutched her forehead and the man's arms moved to give her some support again.

"Thank you," She managed to breathe as she stood up with his help. She looked up at him and discovered that he was much taller than she was, by at least half a foot.

He was staring at the metal figurehead on the other side of the clearing. He seemed…fascinated by it. Tori wondered if he had any relation to it. How else would he have been able to find the Turks and herself in the maze?

He suddenly looked down to face her, catching her peering up at him with shy curiosity. To her utter embarrassment, she blushed.

To her relief, he didn't acknowledge the fact that her cheeks were now the color of ripe apples. His face was showing the concern that she could tell he was trying to keep from his voice as he said with forced apathy, "Those men won't be returning to this place tonight. You are free to go back to your home, but it probably won't be safe for you to travel alone."

Tori nodded, not knowing what to say. Egad, those eyes were wonderful.

The man's features softened, even if he didn't smile, and he said, "Come, I will escort you home."

* * *

A/N: No, Yazoo is not turning into a softie. It's too early in the story! He's just very confused right now because all of these emotions are coming in at once when before he was supposed to be someone who couldn't give a care for the world even if his life depended on it. Personally, I blame Jenova. Now, as for the challenge I posted last chapter, yes Fire Gemron, Yazoo's disguise is modeled after Lucius Malfoy's costume. Congratulations, you really know your Harry Potter movies. 


	6. Obsessions Left and Right

Tori sat at the counter of the bookstore, chin in her left palm, pen in her right, a sketchbook open in front of her to a page dotted with little doodles here and there. She actually wasn't paying attention to the paper at all, her gaze staring out the front windows at the rain flowing liberally down the pane. She had barely gotten any sleep during the night after she got home and was immediately greeted by Jiro, who had apologized endlessly and chastised himself for ever thinking it was a wise idea to allow Tori to go out that late at night. Tori had told him everything, including the part about the tall, beautiful-eyed man who had helped her. Hm, maybe without _those_ words, though.

When she had told Jiro about the Turks, Jiro's expression had grown sober and he had said, disgusted, "I don't know why they're bringing those horrors back into the city. They nearly got us wiped out once. I guess it's true what they say, those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. They'll just have to learn the hard way to get the lesson drilled into their thick skulls."

Whatever "hard way" Jiro was talking about Tori didn't want to think. Midgar's first disaster had been hard enough to cope with.

A particularly loud clap of thunder sounded over head and Tori jumped, her pen suddenly dragging across the paper, creating a large streak over the surface. She glared out the window and muttered, "The heck…" before looking down to see the damage. For a good thirty seconds she just gaped at the image. It seems that she had unconsciously been drawing a picture of the silver-haired man from the day before.

Several thoughts when through her head at once. "Not as good as the original, but it'll do." "Why the heck am I drawing him!" "I didn't know I was this good…and without even looking!" Her main thought, however was that she never wanted anyone to know about this. Even if the guy was a dang sexy beast, she shouldn't go around drawing him!

She paused at that last and sighed, frustrated. Her train of thought seemed to be going from seriously pathetic, to even worse. The only thing she could think of was to dispose of the picture immediately before she was humiliated out of her mind.

She picked the picture up and was about to crumple it up when the last voice she ever wanted to hear in her position sounded from behind her.

"Hey Tori, what's that," Miya asked snatching up the picture and holding it in front of her. Tori could only stare helplessly as Miya's eyebrow's lifted up dramatically and her mouth formed a perfectly round "o". Tori would have liked nothing more than to either swallow the paper or die.

Miya grinned and said, "Wow, she's gorgeous! I didn't know you could draw this well."

Tori grabbed the sketch away and flushed. "First of all, it's a guy, and you've never seen my sketchbook."

"Oh, it's a guy…" Miya looked over Tori's shoulder. "So is it from your head, or…"

"It's the one Jiro told you about. The one from yesterday," Tori said setting the paper back down. Now that the initial mortification was over, she felt a little light-headed.

That morning Jiro had told Emiko and Miya everything Tori had told him. After lightly scolding Jiro (Tori felt a pang of guilt that she was the cause), Emiko and Miya had insisted that she not have to work at the counter that day. Honestly, Tori couldn't stand it when people fussed over her, so she had decided to go on with the work.

"Mmm, I see," Miya said, grinning suspiciously. "So, you wouldn't happen to have a little _crush_ on him would you?"

Tori couldn't help but flush a little, "Well, I'm certainly grateful that he came when he did, and I'll admit he was extremely good-looking, but I don't know anything about him and Midgar is so large that I doubt I'll ever see him again."

Tori couldn't help but feel how piercing the words actually were. She had never really appropriately thanked him for saving her, and she hadn't even learned his name. How could she have a chance with someone who thought she was ungrateful?

"Well, you may not know much about him, but at least he knows a bit about you," Miya said, then seeing the puzzled look on Tori's face added, "He knows where you live. Especially since he brought you all the way back here; he knows the best place to find you now."

A dark cloud that had been hanging over Tori suddenly fizzled away. _He knew where to find her._ If there was a chance that he would want to drop by, nothing would stop him as far as she was concerned.

* * *

In front of the mirror in his room at his and his brother's base, Yazoo cleaned the last of the light tan coloring off his face and took the black ribbon out of his hair, the events of the day before reeling through his head. After he had taken that young girl back to her home, he had questioned Mother, whose voice was still freshly connected to him, whether he should go back to her or not. As soon as he had, that hypnotic voice had told him to go and send Kadaj to her instead. It was Kadaj she wanted to see.

He could have been jealous. He should have been jealous. He had come all that way to see Mother only to have her send for his younger brother. But right now, jealousy was only a grain of sand when compared to the beach of other thoughts in his mind.

Ever since the fight with the two men at the warehouse and his sheer closeness to Mother, a floodgate of emotions had been opened, immediately annihilating the passive demeanor that he had always tried so hard to uphold.

But the thing that still perturbed him the most was that _girl_. Why had he reacted so strongly to seeing her in danger? Why had he actually saved her? He was supposed to hate humans. He hadn't been hesitant to hurt any human other than her.

Squeezing the slightly stained cloth, he rested his forehead on his fist, forcing himself to calm down and try to think clearly. He had to remain passive in front of his brothers. It had already been a challenge trying to appear neutral when he had reported the events to Kadaj.

Nearly crazy with excitement, Kadaj had left to go to the old Shin-ra warehouse immediately. The mere thought that he would finally be able to meet Mother was enough to completely forget about Yazoo and Loz for the morning. Still, Yazoo hoped he wouldn't meet up with the friends of the men that Yazoo had fought.

Yazoo looked back up at his reflection. Their Master had warned them about some organization called the "Turks" that he said would try and stop them from reuniting with Mother. For a moment, Yazoo wondered if those men had been a part of the group. If they were, then Yazoo would be glad to bee rid of them. It seemed that all they would be doing would be causing trouble for him and his brothers in the future and he had the feeling that the humans would be happy to be rid of them too.

He suddenly paused and frowned when the unbidden image of the fear on the young woman's face appeared behind his eyes.

All of his sympathy for the humans felt like they were coming from her. But why did she matter so much in the first place? She was to blame for him losing the opportunity to meet Mother. Because of her, his cool stature had been destroyed. If that loss caused the brothers' mission to fail in any way, it was her fault.

Yazoo tightly gripped the sides of the small table in front of the mirror, staring down at the dusty surface, not noticing that he was trembling slightly.

His resolve had to be made now. He couldn't let the girl get away with stealing his chance to speak with Mother. She couldn't be allowed to interfere again. He had to find her and...get rid of her.

All at once, he stopped shaking and looked up to meet his reflection's green-eyed gaze. That argument certainly made sense. Killing the woman would have sounded like the best option. So why didn't it _feel_ right?

A sudden muffled thud from outside the door made him jump. He should have been able to sense something coming earlier than this. He had to pull himself together.

Passing a hand in front of his eyes and forcing himself to remain cools, he straightened up and opened the door to the hallway soundlessly.

The storm outside made the hallway dark despite the fact that it was still afternoon. Squinting through the darkness, Yazoo saw something in front of the door to Kadaj's room.

Raising and eyebrow, Yazoo made his way over to the still object. Out of the gloom, he could just make out a glimpse of something light-colored and slightly wavy like...hair.

"Kadaj," Yazoo murmured. He hurried over to the younger man's side and knelt down. Kadaj was sitting with his back against the wall, his arms wrapped around his legs and his forehead resting on his knees. He was sitting perfectly still.

"Kadaj?" Yazoo asked, putting his hand softly on his brother's shoulder.

Instead of startling him, which was what Yazoo had expected the movement to do, Kadaj just stayed in his position a second longer before slowly raising his head to peer into Yazoo's face. There were trails of tears shining down his pale cheeks. Yazoo was astonished. He had never thought that he would ever actually see Kadaj crying. The young man always seemed incapable of expressing such an emotion. Either Kadaj was in a lot of pain or something terrible had happened to...

A lightning stab of fear coursed through Yazoo and he grabbed Kadaj's shoulders.

"Kadaj, what happened out there? Is something wrong with Mother?" He demanded, desperately.

Kadaj's eyes flashed, but he stayed silent for an agonizing few seconds until he...started laughing. Well, more like laughing hysterically and crying at the same time.

Yazoo's face heated with impatience and it was all he could do to keep from shaking his brother until he answered.

Just then, though, Kadaj relaxed and quieted almost eerily. His bright green eyes were distant and it was like he was looking right through Yazoo.

"Mother's gone," Kadaj said, leaning his head back against the wall in a trance.

Yazoo's eyes widened and his grip on Kadaj's shoulder's went limp.

"What?"

"Mother's gone," The teenager said again, eyes still glazed over. "Those men that you, the Boss's boys that Master told us about...they took her, I know it."

His eyes suddenly cleared and he raised his hand in front of his face. The black glove was off and Yazoo could see that the skin was considerably dark when compared to the pale flesh of Kadaj's face.

"At first I thought you'd gone mad until I felt some of her remaining cells there...and then Master told me..."

Yazoo watched his brother, puzzled. He seemed to be babbling now. When Kadaj trailed off into silence, Yazoo considered getting some water to splash on his face and wake him up, but then Kadaj sat bolt upright, his expression perfectly awake and wary.

Yazoo jumped back when Kadaj suddenly leapt to his feet, muttering, "What was he thinking...such a fool."

When Yazoo got to his feet as well, Kadaj looked up and met his eyes.

"I must speak with the Boss," Kadaj said, making his way towards the stairway back to the abandoned hotel's lobby.

Yazoo could only watch Kadaj's retreating back in shock at his brother's complete mood shift until he blurted out, "Shall I inform the Master of what you found?"

Kadaj turned and gave Yazoo a strange look before saying, "Yazoo, Master already knows. Didn't I just say that?"

Yazoo looked down and nodded.

Kadaj suddenly started laughing again, this time a humorous laugh instead of the hysteria of before. Yazoo looked up to see the younger man walking towards him.

"Don't worry your pretty little head over it too much, Sherlock" He said, fingering the collar of the coat that Yazoo was still wearing. "You and Loz just find something to occupy yourselves with whi;e I'm talking with the boss."

Kadaj grinned when Yazoo relented and nodded. Patting Yazoo's "pretty little head", he affectionately added, "Good. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I mustn't keep the Boss waiting.

Kadaj left Yazoo in silence, with only the sound of the rain against the window to give any sense of motion to the dark hallway.

He really didn't know what had spurred him to mention Master. For a second, it had seemed odd to him that Kadaj had been able to get to Master in that short a space of time before Yazoo had heard him. It was almost like Kadaj and Master had a constant connection to each other. It suddenly occured to Yazoo that he had never actually _seen_ their Master before...that it had _always_

been Kadaj who had reported to Master. Loz had probably never seen him either.

At this strange revelation, Yazoo raised his head and stared at the window. Why hadn't he realized this before? It was just like feeling the new emotions in his room. He was questioning everything around him.

This had to stop. Nothing good could come from his questioning if it continued. And in order to stop it, he had to stop it's source.

Yazoo reached into his coat and fingered the smooth handle of the Velvet Nightmare, his mind suddenly calm and focused. He would figure out what to do with Kadaj and Master later. Right now, while he still had time, he had to deal with the one thing that was afflicting him the most.

* * *

As Tori closed her sketchbook about and hour after her chat with Miya, she suddenly found her face smothered with something yellow and furry. She pulled away, gasping for breath and found herself looking into the impossibly huge eyes of Patsy, Jiro's large, ginger cat.

She chuckled with relief and scratched the cat's chin. Whether the cat was inside the store or out was often unpredictable, and after the events of the of the past night, Tori had forgotten about the cat entirely.

Patsy jumped onto Tori's lap and curled up, purring madly. Tori wrinkled her nose a bit at the unpleasant feeling of having a soaking wet cat on her lap. Patsy must have been outside for hours.

Tori sighed and looked around the main room of the bookstore. No one had come in all morning, leaving the room with a dark and lonely feeling because of the rain. Well, if no one was going to come in now, she saw no reason why she had to sit there with a wet cat.

She gathered the purring mass in her arms and headed off to the bathroom where she grabbed a towel and started scrubbing Patsy dry.

When a knock suddenly sounded from the front door, Tori looked down at the front of her shirt and her muddy hands in dismay. She wouldn't exactly look appealing to a customer, but she didn't want them to just stand there while she cleaned up.

The knock sounded again and this time, Miya suddenly appeared at this bathroom's doorway. When she saw the mud on Tori's shirt, she giggled and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of this one, you just get cleaned up."

Tori nodded her thanks and dried her hands on a clean towel while she listened to the muffled sound of Miya opening the door and exchanging a few words with the customer. She frowned a little when she abruptly heard quick footsteps coming towards the bathroom.

She gave Patsy a little pet on his head and stood in the doorway curiously only to have Miya nearly bowl into her in her haste. Tori jumped back to give Miya room and was about to say something about not running around when she stopped short, seeing Miya's sudden excitement.

For all the years she knew her sister, Tori knew that seeing Miya giggle like this probably wasn't a good sign for her.

"Someone's here to see you," Miya said, grabbing Tori's arm and pushing her towards the front room before going before standing in the middle of the hallway as if determined not to let Tori escaped.

Tori stared at her sister before shrugging and heading off to the front of the store. There were times when she seriously questioned Miya's sanity.

When she stepped into the entrance of the store, Tori nearly tripped over Patsy, who had decided to follow her and had darted between her legs. She grabbed the door frame to keep her balance and said, "Dang cat..." under her breath.

She received a bigger shock, however, when a familiar, low voice said from beside her, "Are you alright?"

Tori whipped her head up and her breath caught in her throat when she looked up to find herself looking directly into the exact same pale features and green eyes from the night before.

* * *

A/N: Alright, after a decade of nothing, I'm back. Truth is, I was a little nervous about continuing the story after I heard that quite a few people had seen it and I was wondering if mine would be close to the storyline or not. At any rate, I'm going to stick with this thing until it's done. I would never discontinue an of my stories that I post.

I really hope I'm not drawing this out again. I'm seriously trying not to!

Disclaimer: All of this besides the new characters belong to Square-Enix.


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